RIDGEWAY, Va. – Case goods importer Riverside Furniture has opened a distribution center here that is expected to help reduce shipment times significantly as part of the company’s efforts to better serve retailers in the eastern half of the U.S.
The 75,000-square-foot facility opened in December and is expected to reduce shipment lead times from four weeks to 10 to 14 days. This represents the time of the order to the arrival at the retailer’s location.
The facility, the company’s second domestic warehouse, will be fully stocked and operational in February. The company’s other domestic warehouse is in Fort Smith, Ark., where Riverside is based.
“Improved service from the new Virginia warehouse is our latest strategic initiative to deliver added value to our customers,” said Fred Henjes, president and CEO. “The Eastern U.S. retailers serviced by the distribution center will realize higher profitability through reduced freight costs, shorter lead times and higher inventory turns through low shipping minimums.”
With the new facility, which is operated by Warren Trucking, the Fort Smith facility will service retailers in the Midwest and Western U.S., said John Iasiello, senior vice president of strategic planning and business development.
The company also has a distribution center in Vietnam. Retailers can order direct minimum containers in direct mixed container quantities as small as 350 cubes. This allows smaller customers to take advantage of the lower pricing typically available only to larger retailers through direct container shipments.
With the new Virginia facility, retailers can receive immediate shipments if the product is in stock. They also can send their preferred carrier to pick up the merchandise within a week, Iasiello noted.
“We are excited at how the new facility will add a new level of service to our current dealer base and many prospective dealers by offering our best-selling products across all Riverside categories – bedroom, dining, occasional, home office and entertainment,” Iasiello said. “As we ramp up, our goal is a ‘never out of stock’ position on best-sellers.”
I’m Tom Russell and have worked at Furniture/Today since August 2003. Since then, I have covered the international side of the business from a logistics and sourcing standpoint. Since then, I also have visited several furniture trade shows and manufacturing plants in Asia, which has helped me gain perspective about the industry in that part of the world. As I continue covering the import side of the business, I look forward to building on that knowledge base through conversations with industry officials and future overseas plant tours. From time to time, I will file news and other industry perspectives online and, as always, welcome your response to these Web postings.
